Archive of Our Own ^beta

Essek is curled up with a book in the library when he hears the bang come from the lab. It probably says something unfortunate about Essek's life that he's become something of a connoisseur of explosions. This one is forceful enough to rattle dishes, but not enough to break the windows. There's no smell of fire or chemical reaction, but there is the snapped-wire feeling of powerful magic unleashed.

Essek is on his feet and sprinting for the lab when he finally (blessedly) hears Caleb shout, "I'm alright! I'm alright! There's no need to—!" before dissolving into hacking coughs. They meet in the hallway, Caleb stumbling out of the lab amidst a cloud of orange smoke, alternating between coughs and a vehement string of Zemnian swearwords.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Essek doesn't bother waiting for a reply, reaching out to grab him by the shoulders, feel every inch of him. Caleb's hair is disheveled and coming out of its tie, and his face and clothing are covered in orange-brown dirt, but Essek can't find any sign of injury.

"I'm fine, schatz," Caleb says, covering Essek's hand with his own. "Just a spell mishap. Nothing serious."

Essek looks at him in horror. "Nothing serious?! What on Earth kind of spell were you attempting?!" He's played around with new magic himself a time or two, and it's rare to have them literally blow up in your face, unless blowing things up is the goal of the spell. Surely Caleb would know better than to test out new explosive magic in their home.

Caleb sighs, and gives a regretful look at the lab. "A modified Polymorph. I hoped by combining it with some dunamantic principles I could perhaps extend the duration by a few hours." Caleb stares down mournfully at his hands. Still decidedly human shaped. "I was so certain I was on the right track. Apparently I did nothing but make a smoky mess."

A movement by Caleb's legs catches Essek's attention. At first, he thinks that somehow Caleb's belt has come loose in the explosion and is swinging free. But no, the movements are all wrong. Too fluid, too twitchy. And the shape is too rounded. Too furry. Something clicks in Essek's mind. He looks up sharply, scrutinizing Caleb's head. What Essek had initially taken as disheveled hair are in fact a pair of triangular, cinnamon colored ears, peeking out through Caleb's hair. Essek chokes back a laugh. "Dearest… I think you might be wrong about that."

After a complete disrobing and thorough inspection, they determine that the changes are limited to the ears and tail. No fur, no claws, no whiskers.  Both ears and tail are the same dark ginger color as Caleb's normal hair, though the tail has tabby stripes with a white tip. Caleb can control them as easily as his own hands and feet, but when he's not thinking about them, they tend to move on their own. The tail, which whipped back and forth for the first quarter hour, has calmed down to an intermittent twitch. 

"How do they feel?" Essek asks. They're in the lab again, now thankfully cleared of smoke. Essek is at the desk, while Caleb sits cross-legged on the floor, still naked. Essek wonders a bit about that. It's a warm summer's night, and Caleb isn't a particularly modest man by nature, but even so. Essek would have expected him to at least put on a robe by now.

Caleb watches Essek, hardly blinking. A bird chirps loudly outside, and one ear cants towards it for a moment, then back. Light, Essek thinks. He has no right to be this cute.

"They feel fine," Caleb says. "Like they are a natural part of me that I've always had." His eyes drift down Essek's body and back up again.

That makes sense. Essek has used Alter Self for disguises often enough, and the effects were similar. "And you don't need to focus to maintain it?"

"No. I think I could dismiss the change if I wanted to, but…" 

Essek raises an eyebrow. "But?"

Caleb shrugs. "The whole point of this was to make Polymorph last longer. If I still have my ears and tail forty-two minutes from now, then at least I know I've done something right." He's still staring at Essek. Without apparently being aware of it, Caleb's tongue swipes his bottom lip.

Essek frowns, leaning back in his chair. "Alright. But stay in the room with me until it ends. If this spell has any other unknown side effects waiting for us, I'd like to be ready to dispel it."

Caleb grins a slow, languid grin. "Nearly an hour to kill together, and me already naked. However will we pass the time?" To emphasize the point, he sprawls on one side like a model posting for a nude painting. This shows off a great many things about Caleb's body, including the fact that he is currently very, very hard.

Essek coughs a laugh at that. He is lucky his complexion doesn't show blushes as easily as Caleb's, because he can feel the heat rising in his face. It isn't often that Caleb is so forward, at least not without a good bit of effort to get into the right headspace. "Tempting," Essek says. Very tempting. "But I'd like to go over your notes first. Make sure we have no other nasty surprises in store."

Caleb pouts. "Must you? I feel fine. I think anything unpleasant would have happened when the spell took hold." 

Light help me, Essek thinks. It's already difficult to deny Caleb when he pouts under normal circumstances. But combine that with the drooping tail and ears…

Essek has to forcibly tear his eyes away from Caleb before he can answer. "Please, just give me enough time to read through this." He pulls a thick sheaf of Caleb's notes off the desk. "Then we can retire to the bedroom." Caleb does not appear particularly pleased with this compromise, but he doesn't voice any more objections. Essek goes to the reading chair to settle in.

Caleb's notes are, like the man himself, precise and organized, aside from one poorly drawn cat doodle in the bottom corner of the third page. Mostly, the notes consist of a chart of a dozen possible tweaks to the spell, with commentary on what effects Caleb expects each one to have. Six of these also have Experimental results: no effect written next to them. So apparently Caleb had been trying variation number seven when—

The papers are abruptly shoved to one side as Caleb crawls into Essek's lap. He curls into a ball, resting his head on Essek's chest. Essek's voice is completely flat. "What. Are. You. Doing." 

Caleb looks up at him with perfectly angelic eyes. Only his twitching tail betrays any mischief. "I wanted a seat."

Essek points at a second reading chair across the room, identical to the one he's in. "You can sit there."

"That one isn't warm." Caleb nuzzles into Essek's chest. The motion also probably-not-accidentally grinds Caleb's ass against Essek's crotch. Essek can't quite suppress a hiss at this, causing Caleb to smirk. "This seat is very warm."

Essek inhales deeply, trying to compose himself. "Caleb. I can't read with you sitting there."

"Oh no. What a tragedy," Caleb says, completely deadpan. He squirms a bit more, then starts kissing a trail up Essek's throat, stopping just below his ear. His voice drops to a low whisper. Essek can feel each word as a puff of air on his skin. "Will the bad kitty need to be taught a lesson?"

Essek shivers slightly at that. Then remembering himself, he shoves at Caleb. Not as hard as he maybe should have, but enough to get the point across. "Off. Now. I need to read this."

Caleb looks at him like he really is a poor pathetic kitten that Essek just kicked, but he does get off of Essek's lap. And then promptly sits down on the floor at Essek's feet.

"I thought you said you wanted a chair," Essek said, barely suppressing a fond grin.

"Mmm." Caleb snuggles up against Essek's leg, tail twining around it. "That chair isn't warm. You are warm."

Essek laughs and shakes his head, amused. "What on Earth has gotten into you?" 

"Mmm." Caleb leans into Essek's knee, tracing a finger along the inseam of his trousers. "Perhaps it's the spell. I am feeling especially… frisky right now."

That draws Essek up short. "The spell affected your mind? That is… that is very concerning, Caleb." 

Essek's tone makes Caleb pause what he's doing. Some of the playful kitten demeanor drops away as he looks Essek in the eyes. "I still have my will, schatz," he says, voice gentle but serious. "Even a full Polymorph doesn't take that away, and this spell hasn't muddled my mind nearly so much. Mostly I just feel a powerful desire for you to pet me and scritch me behind the ears. And I'm hornier than I've been since I was a teenager."

Essek studies his face, trying to decide if he believes Caleb or not. Caleb himself certainly seems to believe what he's saying. "Are you sure that's all?" Essek asks. "The spell could affect your awareness of how impaired you are."

Caleb closes his eyes. Essek is quietly relieved that he is taking the question seriously, despite how riled up he is. "It is precisely one hour and seven minutes since sunset," Caleb says after a moment. "North is that way. Last Miresen you had scrambled eggs for lunch with salt, pepper, and a little bit of thyme out of the window box." Caleb opens his eyes. "If you're still not sure, I'll stop pestering you and go take care of myself."

Essek looks into Caleb's eyes. They are blown wide with arousal, but they're still clear and steady. "You remember your safe words?" Essek asks softly.

Caleb visibly swallows. "Yellow to slow. Red to stop. Green to keep going."

"I'm going to be strict with you. Your reward will be a long time in coming. Do you want that?"

Caleb inhales sharply. In their relationship, in this context, strict has a very particular meaning. "So long as it comes eventually. Be as strict as you want."

Essek nods. "All right then. Green."

Immediately, Caleb is nuzzling the inside of Essek's thigh. "Oh thank gods," he says, kissing the inside of Essek's knee. "You have no idea how badly I need you to ravish me, right now."

Essek laughs a sharp, cold laugh. "You think you have earned that privilege?" The soft, concerned tones of a moment ago are gone. He grabs Caleb's hair and yanks his head away from Essek's legs. Caleb gasps, from pain and excitement mixed. "You have been a very bad kitty, distracting me while I am trying to work." Essek pulls again, tilting Caleb's face up towards him. "Naughty kitties do not get rewarded for bad behavior. They do not get to be fucked, and they certainly do not get to come. For what you've done I should tie you up and leave you to stew until sunrise."

Caleb is staring up at Essek, eyes wide with fear and excitement. "Oh please, please, no! I promise, I can be a good cat, just please fuck me! Please let me come!" He tries to pull out of Essek's grip, perhaps to grovel, but Essek holds him tight.

Essek regards for a long moment. Just long enough to let Caleb wonder if he'll follow through on the threat. "Perhaps. But if you are to earn that right, we will need a few things. This is your first test: hands off." He lets go of Caleb's hair, and waits to see what he does.

Caleb's hands twitch for a moment, as if he means to cling to Essek's shins anyway. With a visible effort, Caleb pulls his hands back and holds them still in his lap. Essek nods approval, and summons a chest onto the side table. He takes his time rummaging through it, carefully selecting three items and placing them, one by one, onto the table.

Caleb squirms at the delay. Even more than that, his tail twitches madly. Out of the corner of his eye, Essek notices that Caleb has wrapped his hands around his cock and started pumping slowly up and down. Not enough to make him come anytime soon, but enough to make him groan softly. Well. That won't do. "When I said hands off, do you think I meant only myself?" Essek snaps.

Caleb freezes mid-stroke. "I… I thought..."

"This is a test of self control. Hands off means hands off." Reluctantly, Caleb pulls his hands away from himself. After a moment, he sits on them. Essek nods approvingly. He spends probably more time than he needs to, checking to make sure the items he'd picked out are still in good condition. All the while, he is very aware of Caleb squirming beside him. 

Eventually Essek closes the chest, locks it, and dismisses it back to its demiplane. "That was very good," Essek says, leaning down to scritch Caleb behind the ears. Caleb presses into the touch, eyes closed, face blissed out. "I could see that it was very hard for you, but you still did it. I am proud."

"Does that mean I get to come?" Caleb asks immediately. 

"If you keep up the good behavior, then yes, you may." Essek picks up one of the items he'd set aside. "First, however, I think we need to make sure that you never forget that you are an owned cat. You belong to me." He holds up a thick leather collar where Caleb can clearly see it. Not a cat collar— none of the ones they have would fit. A human sized one with plenty of ring attachments that they bought for other scenes like this. Once Caleb has had a moment to fully take it in, Essek gently wraps the collar around his neck and fixes it into place.

Almost reverently, Caleb feels at the leather and metal strap against his throat. He lightly tugs at it, as if to be sure it won't come off at the slightest touch. "I belong to you," he whispers. 

"And I take good care of my belongings," Essek replies, voice just as soft. He picks up the next item from the set, once again holding it up for Caleb's inspection. This one is a long, thin, sturdy chain, which Essek attaches to a ring on the collar. "Come," he says, and stands up. Caleb waits until Essek yanks on the chain before he stumbles up to follow. 

Essek leads Caleb across the room to the other reading chair. "Now I still have to finish reading your notes, and I think we both know that expecting you to sit quietly at my feet and not distract me for that long is too much to ask right now." Briskly, he affixes the other end of the chain to one of the chair's back legs. "So to remove temptation, I am chaining you up over here, out of reach." Essek knows for a fact that the chair is too heavy for Caleb to move alone. There are half a dozen spells that would let him do so, but if Caleb is committed to the playful kitty role, then Essek is confident he won't use any of them.

Essek returns to his own chair, settling in to read. Caleb immediately tries to follow him, but is, predictably, brought up short by the chain. He tries pulling on it, but of course, the chair doesn't budge. With an adorably frustrated whine he reaches out for Essek, arm waving ineffectually with three feet of distance. "If you want to make me feel justified in chaining you up away from me, then by all means, continue," Essek says mildly.

Caleb plops down on the carpet with a grunt. "It's so hard. I'm so hard. Can't you fuck me now?"

"Not yet. You come when I tell you you may come," Essek repeats. Caleb's little ears droop, and light help him, he looks so pathetic that it's all Essek can do not to march over there and have his way with him on the floor right now. Essek's expression softens a touch. "But… how about this. You were good earlier, so I will let you have a treat." Essek flicks his hand, causing the third item from the chest to float over to Caleb. This one is a small bottle, sloshing with thick liquid. "While you wait for me, you have my permission to work yourself open. You also have my permission to touch yourself anywhere you like, exceptyour cock."

Caleb's ears perk up. "And when I'm done you'll fuck me?"

"When I am done, if you haven't distracted me too much, then yes, I will fuck you." With a wave, the little bottle sets down on the side table besides Caleb's chair. "I suggest you do this in the chair. It is much more comfortable than the floor."

Caleb immediately scrambles into the chair. He grabs the little bottle and dumps a generous helping of oil all over it. "Slower Caleb," Essek says gently. "There's no need to rush." Caleb scowls, flipping him off. "I said slow down," Essek says more sharply. "You are my cat, I will not have you hurting yourself by rushing." He can actually see the shiver travel down Caleb's spine and up to the tip of his tail at that tone.

At the vet least, Caleb does appear to take this command to heart. He lets his index finger trace a lazy circle around the rim of his asshole for a moment before ever so gently pushing it in. Caleb's face tightens for a moment, then slackens into contentment.

Satisfied that Caleb will be occupied for the next little bit, Essek settles back down in the chair and reading his notes. With effort, he tunes out the soft wet sound of Caleb's fingers sliding in and out of his ass (and the panting, oh light, the panting).

From what Essek can tell, this specific variation of the spell had Caleb trying an especially clever dunamantic trick he remembers teaching to him years ago in Rosohna. Used this way, it probably would extend a spell's duration, but… yes, Essek could see it now. The same trick that extended the duration would also interfere with the transmutative aspects of the spell, weakening them. If Caleb had intended to turn himself fully into a cat, then that would probably explain—

A soft moan completely derails Essek's train of thought. He looks up sharply. Caleb is a vision sprawled on the chair. One leg hooked over the armrest, two fingers up his ass, his free hand clutching the back of the chair like a drowning man clutches a life preserver. His face barely conceals a smirk. "I'm so sorry, schatz!" he exclaims. "I do not mean to disturb you. I promise, I will be quiet."

"You did that on purpose," Essek says flatly.

"I swear I did not! I was merely imagining that it was you inside me, and I just… I just could not help myself." Caleb's eyes are alive with mischief now, and just a hint of challenge. Show me what happens when I push you , they seem to say. I want to be punished.

Essek leans forward in the chair, putting every ounce of promise and threat he ever learned as Shadowhand into his voice. "This is your only warning. Bad kitties do not get to come." Caleb visibly shivers at that, then nods.

Essek makes a show of picking up his papers and settling back into the chair, but he's not reading anymore. He's confident that Caleb's in no real danger from the spell, and regardless, Essek is far too riled up to focus on magical theory now. Especially if Caleb plans to put on more displays like that. So Essek lets his eyes glaze over the words on the paper and allows himself to appreciate the softer noises Caleb is making. The little pants as he methodically works himself open. The barely suppressed whines that (Essek knows from long experience) mean Caleb is toying with his prostate.

Eventually, though, comes the display Essek expected. This time, there is hardly a pretense of restraint. Caleb's moan is wanton, loud enough to wake the house if anyone else were here. Essek sighs theatrically, putting aside the notes. "And you were doing so well, pet."

"Noooooo, please!" Caleb wails. "You just look so sexy when you're focused like that, I couldn't help myself!"

"I warned you Caleb. You didn't listen." He stands up, sighing regretfully. "You have been a very bad kitty tonight. And what did I tell you about bad kitties?"

Caleb stares up at him with wide, anxious eyes and flattened ears. "They don't get to be fucked?"

"And they certainly don't get to come."

"Oh gods please, no!" Caleb practically throws himself onto the ground. His tail curls around himself as he grovels at Essek's feet, forehead pressing to the ground. "Please, discipline me however you see fit, punish me like the naughty little kitty I am. Just please, please say you'll fuck me at the end of it."

"Hmm." Essek takes his time considering. He circles Caleb's grovelling form, stepping daintily over the chain that still ties him to the chair. "Perhaps. I do have an appropriate punishment in mind. I warn you though: you will not like it. Not one bit. And if you fight me on any of it then you're done for the evening."

"I don't care, I'll do it." Caleb looks up at him with pleading eyes. "I need to be fucked so badly."

"Very well." Essek picks up a small metal disk off the workbench. Then he bends down to unfasten the chain from the chair. With a gentle tug of the chain, Essek pulls Caleb to his feet. "Follow me." Meekly, Caleb follows as Essek leads him down the hall towards the bedroom. "Sit." Caleb sits. His hands are folded tightly in his lap. Only the twitching tip of his tail betrays any excitement or anxiety. 

"Before we begin, we're going to need a few supplies." With a flick of the wrist, Essek summons his private chest again. "You so eagerly want me to fill you up and make you come. You're so desperate for it, in fact, that you cannot restrain yourself from pestering me every five minutes. So it seems only fair to show you just how far that desperation can be pushed." Essek rummages around in the chest and pulls out a small, finely-crafted dildo with delicate arcane runes etched on the bottom. 

Caleb's eyes widen. "Oh gods," he breathes.

"I see you are starting to understand." Essek presses the dildo into Caleb's hand. "Lie down on your back and put this up your ass. Use the oil if you need to." Trembling, Caleb complies. When the dildo is fully lodged inside him, Essek utters a single word in Zemnian. The runes at the base of the dildo glow, and the object begins to quietly hum with a steady intermittent pulsing. Not a vibrator. This particular magic item has a far more direct line to the nervous system than that.

Caleb flops back into the bed. "Oh gods," he groans. "Oh gods who dwell beyond the golden gate…" Clumsily, he reaches down for his cock.

"Hands off," Essek snaps. "No touching yourself until your punishment is done."

Caleb's hands abruptly stop. They flail about for a moment as he desperately tries to figure out what to do with them before tangling them in his hair and tugging. "How— how long will my punishment last?" Caleb manages.

"There is something I need to make," Essek says. He indicates the dresser, where he has set out the blank disc and a few other materials. "It requires a ritual spell, so ten minutes. If you can lie here quietly and not move until I am done, I will consider you appropriately punished. Can you do that?"

Caleb's face screws up, though whether from the pain of pulling on his own hair, or the agony of effort it takes not to touch himself, Essek isn't sure. "I… I don't think I can. Not for that long. I'm sorry."

Essek sighs, not unkindly, and steps towards him. "Do not apologize. I have high standards for my pets, but I am not so unreasonable as to demand the impossible. I am glad you were honest." He gives Caleb an affectionate scritch behind the ears. Caleb leans into the touch with a needy whine. "I'll tell you what. Let me make it easier for you to do what I require." He summons his chest a third time and pulls out three more items. A pair of padded leather wrist cuffs. A spreader bar. A ball gag. 

"Give me your hands." Meekly, Caleb holds up both wrists. Essek fastens the cuffs to each of them with careful efficiency. "Too tight? No? Good." Then, with two short lengths of chain, Essek ties both cuffs to a loop on Caleb's collar. His hands aren't completely immobilized, but he can't move them more than a few inches away from his neck. "That should remove the temptation to touch yourself," Essek says. 

"Now let me see your feet." Trembling, Caleb lifts his feet to where Essek easily can reach them. Essek extends the spreader bar to somewhat wider than shoulder width and places Caleb's ankles into the attached cuffs. "This should keep you from moving about too much." He gently sets down Caleb's legs, then slides back up to his head. 

"Open," he says, tapping Caleb lightly on the mouth. Caleb does, and Essek slides the ball gag into place. "Now lift your head—" he ties the straps firmly in place. "Good. Now, you cannot bother me with that misbehaving mouth of yours any longer."

Finally, Essek takes a long tuft of fleece out of his spell components bag and ties it securely around Caleb's index finger. He drops character for a moment. "Can you still do our signal?" Caleb makes a simple, cramped hand gesture with one hand. An image of a blinking yellow sphere appears in front of Essek. It hangs for a bit, then shifts into an urgent flashing red, before finally settling into a calm, steady green. Essek nods, letting out a breath.

He sits in the chair beside the bed, and takes a moment to really appreciate his handiwork. He's had Caleb trussed up and at his mercy like this before, but Essek is amazed at how much the cat ears and tail improve the effect. He's just so gods-damned cute. Ten years ago Essek would have said he wasn't a cat person, and it would have been accurate, so far as it went. No one in Den Thelyss owned a cat, and he'd always been faintly puzzled by those who went totally gaga over them.

But it's impossible to be in a relationship with someone who loves cats as much as Caleb Widogast does and not have some of that love rub off on you. Plus, the way the tail twitches when Caleb is excited, or the ears flatten when he's cowed, is a gift in this sort of play. It's like Caleb is carrying a giant flashing sign over his head, broadcasting to Essek exactly what kind of effect his domination is having.

The runes on the dildo base flash, and the pattern of humming changes. Caleb whimpers through the ball gag, and the chains clink as he pulls uselessly against the collar. Instead of gentle pulsing, the dildo now hums continuously in a rising and falling sine-wave pattern of intensity. Never strong enough to let Caleb get off, though. Essek made sure of that. The item has a few set patterns like this that it shuffles through at random.

Caleb turns towards Essek, ears flat against his head, and lets out the most piteous whine. Essek doesn't need telepathy to guess what he's thinking. You said my punishment would last until you finished your spell, but you haven't even started yet. Essek laughs. "My apologies, pet. It is not my intention to make you suffer beyond your set punishment. I am simply overwhelmed by how… precious you are like this."

Caleb manages to convey with a single, muffled grunt how deeply unsatisfying he finds this excuse to be. "Alright, alright. I will begin casting… now." Essek picks up the metal disk, and begins casting Fabricate.

Fabricate is a time-consuming spell, but not an especially complicated one. It doesn't require Essek's full focus the way, for example, that making sense of Caleb's notes did. This is fortunate, because Essek has to spend the entire ten minute casting time listening to Caleb slowly fall to pieces on the bed beside him. At first, Caleb is able to keep some semblance of composure. He whimpers softly through the gag and occasionally pulls at his restraints, but otherwise seems determined to endure until Essek is finished. 

But Essek has been tied up with that dildo inside him before, and he knows enduring it is a losing man's game. It's a truly fiendish invention, something Caleb himself had discretely commissioned some years ago. It's designed to gently stimulate your most sensitive spots, but never hard enough to let you come. It just keeps going, and going, and going until you're prepared to tie yourself in knots for a little release. Worse, just when you think you've learn to cope with this soft torture, it up and changes the pattern on you, ensuring you can never get completely used to it.

By the end of Essek's casting time, Caleb is outright wailing through the gag, and the restraints clank as he thrashes about. Essek says a different word in Zemnian, and the dildo immediately falls quiet. Caleb falls limp with a moan. "Your punishment is finished," Essek says. He comes over to sit by Caleb on the bed. The man's cheeks are damp with tears, and Essek gently brushes them away. His voice drops to a softer pitch. "Color?" 

Shaking, Caleb makes a green sphere appear. Essek nods and resumes character. "You took your punishment very well, pet," he says, gently caressing the side of Caleb's face. "I could see how hard that was for you, but you never tried to undo your restraints. You took your punishment like a good little kitty." Caleb looks up at him with imploring eyes. Essek chuckles and kisses him on the nose. "Yes, pet, that means you get to be fucked now. I'm going to remove your restraints, but I think I will leave the gag in place for now. You make such darling noises when you can't talk."

Essek gently removes the cuffs and spreader bar, and sets them aside. He takes a moment to help massage some of the stiffness out of Caleb's limbs, kissing a trail up the inside of his wrist as he does so. "I'm going to undress and get ready. When you're ready, you are going to get on your hands and knees. Use as many pillows as you need to make yourself comfortable. Grunt twice when you are ready."

Essek has just set the last of his clothing on the chair when Caleb gives the signal. Essek turns and… suppresses a laugh. Essek had chosen this position for Caleb because it was what Caleb preferred when he wanted a good railing. But with that tail sticking straight up from the base of his spine, not to mention those ears, it only now occurs to Essek how much like an actual cat it makes Caleb look. "Oh stars." He covers his mouth, trying to suppress the laughter. Caleb looks back at him and whines impatiently. "My apologies, pet," Essek says, climbing onto the bed. "Remind me to cast Minor Illusion for you later. I need you to see how adorable you look right now."

Under other circumstances, Essek might have taken a moment to tease Caleb a little further. Press a few kisses down his spine, caress his ass a little. But if Essek takes any longer, he suspects his lover will fireball him then and there. So Essek limits himself to lightly circling the rim of Caleb's asshole with the tip of his cock just once before sliding in.

Caleb groans and buries his face in the pillow. Even Essek needs to take a moment to compose himself. Caleb might be wound up tighter than a catapult right now, but Essek has been listening to him vocalize that wind up for the last half hour. He's not going to last much longer than Caleb at this rate. "You're so warm and tight around my cock," Essek says, gently petting Caleb from head to tail. "I could stay like this forever. Does this kitty cat make a good cock warmer?" Caleb makes a pained whine. Essek smiles and gives his ass a little squeeze. "Another time, then. I keep my promises to my pets." And with that, Essek starts thrusting. He goes slow at first, giving Caleb a moment to adjust to the new motion. 

But Caleb isn't looking for gentle lovemaking tonight. So Essek quickly escalates the pace, going faster and harder until the room is filled with the rapid slapslapslap of flesh on flesh and Caleb's needy little whimpers. Essek adjusts his angle slightly, until he's hitting Caleb's prostate with every thrust. Caleb's whimpers graduate into full moans, and his thighs start to shake.

Amazingly, this is apparently not enough for Caleb, who soon starts swaying back on his knees, trying to meet each thrust as it comes. "Demanding aren't you?" Essek laughs shallowly. "You overestimate my endurance, pet, and I'm afraid I do not have Haste prepared today. But let me give you this instead." He slows down his rhythm, just enough to let Essek wrap his hand around Caleb's cock. The rock hard, red tipped, leaking cock that Caleb has been forbidden to touch all evening. Essek starts pumping his hand up and down, moving in time with his thrusts.

It takes very little of this before Caleb is coming messily all over the sheets. He wails into the pillow, entire body quivering with ecstasy. Essek gentles his pace, coaxing Caleb through his orgasm until he is completely spent. At that point, Caleb's limbs give out, and only Essek's firm grip on his hips keeps Caleb from sliding off his cock entirely. "Did you like that, pet?" Essek says, gently stroking Caleb's backside. "Did you enjoy getting your treat?"

A blissed out mmmmmm is the only response Caleb is capable of giving. It sounds more than a little like a purr.

Then, amazingly, Caleb thrusts weakly onto Essek's cock. "Still?" Essek says, halfway between incredulous and amused. "Are you that insatiable? Or are you simply trying to ensure that I come too?" 

Caleb makes a noise that sounds distinctly like yes.

"As you wish." Essek presses a kiss to his shoulder. "But lie down first. Your muscles are jelly, I can't have you collapsing under me." Essek prestidigitates away the mess of Caleb's climax as the other man sprawls bonelessly onto the sheets. Essek shifts a thick pillow under Caleb's hips, positioning his ass for the perfect angle of entry. 

This time when Essek enters him, there's no easing into it. It's not the punishing pace he had earlier, but it is forceful, pushing the boundaries of what the now thoroughly  overstimulated Caleb can handle. Caleb is so limp and boneless that only Essek's firm grip on Caleb's shoulder keeps him from being driven into the headboard. Every thrust pushes a new staccato little whimper out of him.

Something about those noises fills Essek's heart just about to bursting. "You're so good for me," he breathes. "You've been fucked til you can hardly think straight, but you still let me use your ass to come. I love you so much." He pauses mid thrust to kiss Caleb's shoulder blade. Caleb tilts his head back to nuzzle  Essek's hand. Essek smiles, resuming his pace. "You're so sweet and pliant for me now. This is what you really are, aren't you? You pretend to be a naughty little brat, but really you're just a sweet little kitty who just wants to love and be loved."

Pleasure builds inside of Essek, climbing and climbing with each thrust until Essek is spilling inside of him. He lays there for a long moment, letting himself savor the warm tightness of Caleb's walls around his cock as the last throbs of orgasm pulse through him.

They lie there together, sprawled one on top of the other. Essek takes one of Caleb's hands in his, weaving the fingers together and enjoying the feeling of skin on hot, sweaty skin. "Shall we move on to aftercare?" he breathes into Caleb's ear. The other man nods, and Essek gently unstraps the gag and sets it on the bedside table. 

When he moves to take off the collar however, Caleb catches his hand. "Leave it. I want to keep it for a while longer. The pressure is soothing."

To Essek's surprise and mild concern, Caleb's face is streaked with fresh tears. Essek gently brushes one away. "Are you alright?" Caleb is very good about safewording when he needs to, but a part of Essek can't let go of the fear that Caleb's need to punish himself will one day override his good sense.

Caleb twists about until he is lying on top of Essek, arms wrapped around his neck. "I'm good. Better than good. You took such good care of me. But that last thing you said, about loving, and being loved? I don't know. It… it got to me."

Essek's heart breaks a little at that. "Oh Caleb." He pulls Caleb closer, stroking his hair like he might with an actual cat. 

"I don't mean to beat myself up. I know the things I've done don't make me unworthy of love. But it's hard to accept it sometimes, you know? Being in that submissive mindspace, though, it forces me to take what you say to heart, in a way I can't normally make myself do."

Essek kisses the top of Caleb's head. "One of the things I've always loved about you is how big your heart is. Even with everything you've been through, everything that has happened to you, you have such a bottomless capacity for love."  

"Mmmm," Caleb demurs. Not contradicting him, but not quite agreeing either. "If you don't mind me asking, what were you making with that Fabricate spell? You spent so much time making it, I was about to start catapulting things at you."

Essek notes the blatant subject change, but decides to let it go. Caleb's self-esteem is a years-long project, and he isn't exactly one to judge. "Ah, that. It was something I meant to include in our activities tonight, but you were so impatient it wound up slipping my mind." With a word and a wave, Essek brings the object over in his mage hand.

Essek had taken the blank metal disk and used the spell to shape it into a heart-shaped tag, like a larger cousin to the tags they put on their cats' collars. Caleb takes the tag in his hand, eyes wide. On the front, Caleb is written in large, elegant letters. On the back, it says in somewhat smaller writing, If Found, Return to Essek.

Caleb stares at the tag, turning it over in his hands. Essek feels the heat start to rise in his cheeks. What had felt like such an excellent idea in the moment now seemed to be foolishly sentimental in the cold sanity that followed climax. "It is perhaps a little much," he says, ducking his head. "But you seemed very taken with me saying you belonged to me, so I thought— But if you prefer, I can put it away and—"

"Can I put this on? Right now?" Caleb cuts in.

Essek blinks. "Yes. Yes, of course." He spends a moment, helping Caleb affix the tag to a metal loop at the collar's center. 

Caleb tugs at the tag. "How do I look?"

"I could get you a mirror."

"That would require moving. And I want to know what you think." He looks up with lambent blue eyes, ears perked up.

Essek smiles. "You look like you belong to someone who loves you very much." He kisses Caleb softly on the forehead. Caleb smiles back, and rests his head on Essek's chest, tail wrapping gently around them both. They lie there together, Essek listening to the soft rhythm of Caleb's breath on his skin. He lets his hand stroke Caleb's hair and down his back, until his breathing evens out into the steady snores of sleep.

Essek swears it sounds like purring.